Irish music documentary on tv
Jane Bergen
While channel surfing on Saturday night (8/30/96) I just happened upon
the most incredible documentary of Irish music. They explained the
history, the instruments, how it migrated across the Atlantic to the
Appalachians, the dances, and lots more. It was produced or
distributed by Hummingbird Productions and it aired on the Encore
cable tv channel. I tried to tape it but goofed and it didn't work.
Does anyone know anything about this video? Is it available for sale
anywhere? It didn't "feel" recent (hairstyles, clothing) but I
couldn't even tell what the name of it was, because they kept
referring to "Ovation" but on the cable lineup it listed "Bring It
Back Home."
Hope someone can help.
Jane Bergen
ja...@airmail.net
Ron Lowe
In article <50geb6$7...@library.airnews.net>,
You must mean Bringing it all Back Home. This was a BBC series a few years
ago, but I don't know if it's on video. There was a book and a double CD of
music from the programs, both called BIABH; get them if you can. I think the
book was by Nuala O'Connor.
Ron.
Robert G McCausland
AIS...@news.salford.ac.uk (Ron Lowe) writes:
>You must mean Bringing it all Back Home. This was a BBC series a few years
>ago, but I don't know if it's on video. There was a book and a double CD of
>music from the programs, both called BIABH; get them if you can. I think the
>book was by Nuala O'Connor.
>Ron.
There was also a program run either on Bravo or A&E a few years ago
called "Shamrock and Roll", I believe. It had bits with Donal Lunny,
Christy Moore, U2, Clannad, Van Morrison, Sinead O'Connor, and Enya, if I
remember right.
Other programs to watch out for are the six hour BBC series "The Celts",
with music by Enya (collected on her first cd) -- occasionally run on The
Learning Channel), and the (1995?) PBS program called, I believe, "Out of
Ireland", with primary narration by Mick Moloney.
And wasn't there a thread here a while back about a recent series called
"Transatlantic Sessions", which was soon to be aired in the US?
On the sunny side,
~~Rob McCausland
rg...@world.std.com
Jeff Cook
Robert G McCausland wrote:
> Learning Channel), and the (1995?) PBS program called, I believe, "Out of
> Ireland", with primary narration by Mick Moloney.
"Out of Ireland", a documentary by Paul Wagner (of "Stone Carvers" fame).
Primary narration by Kelly McGillis, frequent cultural and musical comments on camera by
Mick Maloney.
--
Jeff Cook
jc...@his.com
Kevin Williams cpm
The Disney Channel also ran a feature called "Irish Music in America" a
couple years ago. It featured segments with The Everly Brothers, and
discussed Irish music's lead into the songs of the Appalachains.
Kevin Williams, C.P.M. --- k_will...@prodigy.com "When Money's tight
and hard to get and your horse is also ran, when all you have is a heap
of debt a pint of plain is your only man." - Flan O'Brien
ia_m...@sueann.fordham.edu
Another Irish music documentary was on PBS not too long ago. I forgot the name
but it was narrated by Gabriel Byrne.
Kevin Gamble
> > "Out of Ireland", a documentary by Paul Wagner (of "Stone Carvers" fame).
> > Primary narration by Kelly McGillis, frequent cultural and musical comments on camera by
> > Mick Maloney.
It should be noted that the real creator of this film is Dr. Kerby
Miller, professor of history here at the University of Missouri-Columbia.
The above people helped bring the work to it's filmed form, but Dr.
Miller is at the source of it. I was at the film's premiere here, and
was lucky enough to see both Miller and (film director) Wagner speak.
"Out of Ireland" is also available in book form.
Kevin
Brudearg
Subject: Irish music documentary on tv
From: ja...@airmail.net (Jane Bergen)
>While channel surfing on Saturday night (8/30/96) I just happened upon
>the most incredible documentary of Irish music. They explained the
>history, the instruments, how it migrated across the Atlantic to the
>Appalachians, the dances, and lots more. It was produced or
>distributed by Hummingbird Productions and it aired on the Encore
>cable tv channel. I tried to tape it but goofed and it didn't work.
Did the documentary explain just how supposed Irish Catholics migrated to
the Appalachian areas of the United States and in doing so managed to
"drop" their religion, culture, etc. and "switch over" to a Lowland Scots
and Northern English culture, including religion, music, language? Were
there ANY Irish immigrants who came to the Appalachians? I doubt it ...
American "country" music is not Irish-descended, at least in the way we
now speak of the Irish. There were many many immigrants from Protestant
Ulster who settled in the American Colonies, and later in the independent
United States, but if you can come up with any "Irish" I'll listen to what
you have to say.
Just give credit where credit is due.
Does anyone know anything about this video? Is it available for sale
anywhere? It didn't "feel" recent (hairstyles, clothing) but I
couldn't even tell what the name of it was, because they kept
referring to "Ovation" but on the cable lineup it listed "Bring It
Back Home."
Hope someone can help.
Jane Bergen
ja...@airmail.net
Bru-dearg
ryan...@gold.tc.umn.edu
Jane,
You are right on the mark about "Bringing it all Back Home." I also
heard it referred to in Ireland among a few trad musicians as
"Bringing it all Back Up." ;-)
I'd say pretty much all American music has been influenced a great
deal by both Irish and Scots music, but that Appalachian music is
deeply rooted in Scots and Ulster Scots music, not Irish music.
But hey--Bono looked "mahvellous" at the beginning of this video,
didn't he? And I loved the scene where Mick Moloney, Robbie O'Connell
et al played with the Schuykill River in the background.
I really look upon the BIABH project as a "That's Entertainment" kind
of thing, not as an accurate description of how Irish music came to
North America and turned around and went home again, becoming the
current Irish revival. That story still hasn't been very well told,
has it?
Let's get funded, and we'll do the definitive documentary, eh?
Janet
Craig Cockburn
Ann an sgriobhainn <51415v$4...@epx.cis.umn.edu>, sgriobh
"ryan...@gold.tc.umn.edu" <ryan...@gold.tc.umn.edu>
>Jane,
>
>You are right on the mark about "Bringing it all Back Home." I also
>heard it referred to in Ireland among a few trad musicians as
>"Bringing it all Back Up." ;-)
>
>I'd say pretty much all American music has been influenced a great
>deal by both Irish and Scots music, but that Appalachian music is
>deeply rooted in Scots and Ulster Scots music, not Irish music.
>
>But hey--Bono looked "mahvellous" at the beginning of this video,
>didn't he? And I loved the scene where Mick Moloney, Robbie O'Connell
>et al played with the Schuykill River in the background.
>
>I really look upon the BIABH project as a "That's Entertainment" kind
>of thing, not as an accurate description of how Irish music came to
>North America and turned around and went home again, becoming the
>current Irish revival. That story still hasn't been very well told,
>has it?
>
>Let's get funded, and we'll do the definitive documentary, eh?
>
>Janet
>
>
>
--
Craig Cockburn ("coburn"), Du\n E/ideann, Alba. (Edinburgh, Scotland)
http://www.smo.uhi.ac.uk/~craig/
Sgri\obh thugam 'sa Gha\idhlig ma 'se do thoil e.
Ron Lowe
In article <50vctd$r...@newsbf02.news.aol.com>,
brud...@aol.com (Brudearg) wrote:
>Subject: Irish music documentary on tv
>From: ja...@airmail.net (Jane Bergen)
>
>>While channel surfing on Saturday night (8/30/96) I just happened upon
>>the most incredible documentary of Irish music. They explained the
>>history, the instruments, how it migrated across the Atlantic to the
>>Appalachians, the dances, and lots more. It was produced or
>>distributed by Hummingbird Productions and it aired on the Encore
>>cable tv channel. I tried to tape it but goofed and it didn't work.
>
>Did the documentary explain just how supposed Irish Catholics migrated to
>the Appalachian areas of the United States and in doing so managed to
>"drop" their religion, culture, etc. and "switch over" to a Lowland Scots
>and Northern English culture, including religion, music, language? Were
>there ANY Irish immigrants who came to the Appalachians? I doubt it ...
>American "country" music is not Irish-descended, at least in the way we
>now speak of the Irish. There were many many immigrants from Protestant
>Ulster who settled in the American Colonies, and later in the independent
>United States, but if you can come up with any "Irish" I'll listen to what
>you have to say.
>
>Just give credit where credit is due.
>
>>ja...@airmail.net
>
>
>Bru-dearg
A somewhat over the top response if I might say so, and where was catholic
mentioned in the the original posting?
The book accompanying Bringing It All Back Home is perfectly clear on what the
origins were of the migrants that settled in the Appalachians, therefore we
can assume the TV series does also ( it's quite a while since it was on UK TV,
so I don't remember ). According to this book, these people, who were the
first mass migration from Ireland, were known as the Scots-Irish. They left
areas now in Northern Ireland, as you correctly say above, in the 18th century
to escape religious persecution and high rents, having arrived in Ireland from
Scotland a century earlier during the plantations. The great song Sleive
Gallion Braes is explained in this way.
So, they were Irish weren't they? If not do you believe that the current
protestant population of Ireland aren't Irish? If the protestants are now
Irish but weren't in the 18th century, when did they become Irish?
Ron.
lyn...@frii.com
Bringing it all Back Home had a lot more to do with the music than
just Bono and Robbie and Co. Did you see the whole 5 hr series or the
1 hr "Americanized" program?
While it isn't the definitive word on the travels of Irish music, the
chance to see musicians like Peadar O'Riada, Liam O'Flynn, Seamus
Begley, Steve Cooney and others was interesting and pleasurable. I
don't think you can judge the whole series (5 hours on RTE) on the
heavily edited 1 hr version. :-)
cindy
Brudearg
Subject: Re: Irish music documentary on tv
From: AIS...@news.salford.ac.uk (Ron Lowe)
Date: Wed, 11 Sep 96 09:11:47 GMT
Message-ID: <515s82$b4p@io>
>A somewhat over the top response if I might say so, and where was
catholic
>mentioned in the the original posting?
<snip>
>these people, who were the
>first mass migration from Ireland, were known as the Scots-Irish. They
left
>areas now in Northern Ireland, as you correctly say above, in the 18th
century
>to escape religious persecution and high rents, having arrived in Ireland
from
>Scotland a century earlier during the plantations. <snip again>
>So, they were Irish weren't they? If not do you believe that the current
>protestant population of Ireland aren't Irish? If the protestants are now
>Irish but weren't in the 18th century, when did they become Irish?
>Ron.
Ah, yes, Ron, I consider Irish protestants "Irish", but I'm afraid the
"official" Irish in the United States (and probably in Ireland proper)
tend to define "Irish" as "Irish Catholic". That's what I was getting at.
If you take the current definition of "Irish" as only those of the
Catholic religion, then the Scots-Irish are left out. And if you consider
the musical tradition of the Scots-Irish to be more "Scots" than "Irish"
(as I do), then American traditional music has more of a Scottish origin
than an Irish one. I hope I made myself clear.
I'm glad someone else realizes that the Scots Irish were the first mass
migration from Ireland.
Bru-dearg
Pat Kirtley
I am a seventh-generation Kentuckian, and my ancestors came from Virginia
and were mostly of Scottish and English descent. In the late 19th century a
couple of Irish Catholics came into my tree. I have been studying my
ancestors, Kentucky history, and of course, Kentucky music. The thread
quoted below is of interest in this context --
>From: ja...@airmail.net (Jane Bergen)
>
>>While channel surfing on Saturday night (8/30/96) I just happened upon
>>the most incredible documentary of Irish music. They explained the
>>history, the instruments, how it migrated across the Atlantic to the
>>Appalachians, the dances, and lots more. <snip>
>>Jane Bergen
>>ja...@airmail.net
>Did the documentary explain just how supposed Irish Catholics migrated to
>the Appalachian areas of the United States and in doing so managed to
>"drop" their religion, culture, etc. and "switch over" to a Lowland Scots
>and Northern English culture, including religion, music, language? Were
>there ANY Irish immigrants who came to the Appalachians? I doubt it ...
>American "country" music is not Irish-descended, at least in the way we
>now speak of the Irish. There were many many immigrants from Protestant
>Ulster who settled in the American Colonies, and later in the independent
>United States, but if you can come up with any "Irish" I'll listen to what
>you have to say.
>
>Just give credit where credit is due.
>Bru-dearg
From all the sources I have studied, I cannot find a rationale for any
"Irish" people winding up in the Appalachians in eastern Kentucky. Ditto
for Irish music. The people who first came into Kentucky via the Cumberland
Gap and wilderness trail came from Virginia and North Carolina for the
most part. They were from England, Scotland, and Wales mostly. The (few)
Irish Catholics who came later were from Maryland and the northeast,
mostly via the Ohio River. They did not settle in the mountains. If you
listen to the music of the Appalachians--even what's played now--you don't
hear the music of Ireland in it. I think people have become confused and
are using the term "Scots-Irish" without regard to what it might refer
to.
To register my vaguely-informed response to the question above "Were
there ANY Irish immigrants who came to the Appalachians?", I would say, (at
least for Kentucky), No.
Pat Kirtley
Lee Anne De Wan
lyn...@frii.com wrote:
: Bringing it all Back Home had a lot more to do with the music
: cindy
so people, where can I find this documentary (the 5 hour
version)? thanks
leeanne@bonair
ryan...@gold.tc.umn.edu
>: cindy
>leeanne@bonair
Not currently available in the US, I don't know about Britain &
Ireland. Its a Beeb production I think.
But again, the 5 hour documentary is no more accurate than the 1 hr
Americanized version in terms of the scholarship--it just has more
pictures and more performances. I stand by my original post in
saying, sure its interesting to see all the musicians in the series,
but it *still* doesn't make the claims that Irish music became
Appalachian music, etc. etc. correct. This is an entertaining series,
but not a particularly accurate series for learning about the music.
Janet
Bob Cameron
> lee...@bonair.Stanford.EDU (Lee Anne De Wan) wrote:
>
> >lyn...@frii.com wrote:
> >: Bringing it all Back Home had a lot more to do with the music
> >than
> >: just Bono and Robbie and Co.
snip
> >: don't think you can judge the whole series (5 hours on RTE) on
> >the
> >: heavily edited 1 hr version. :-)
>
snip
> >so people, where can I find this documentary (the 5 hour
> >version)? thanks
>
just a thought:
check your local friendly PBS station for availablilty- Signals Catalogue
is another possibility that springs to mind.
>
--
The opinions and feeble attempts at humor herein are not in any way endorsed or acknowledged by my employer , etc etc,
Slan leibh, Bob
Kieran Fitzpatrick
ryan...@gold.tc.umn.edu (ryan...@gold.tc.umn.edu) wrote:
>lee...@bonair.Stanford.EDU (Lee Anne De Wan) wrote:
>>lyn...@frii.com wrote:
>>: Bringing it all Back Home had a lot more to do with the music
>>than
>>: just Bono and Robbie and Co. Did you see the whole 5 hr series
>>or the
>>: 1 hr "Americanized" program?
>>: While it isn't the definitive word on the travels of Irish
>>music, the
>>: chance to see musicians like Peadar O'Riada, Liam O'Flynn,
>>Seamus
>>: Begley, Steve Cooney and others was interesting and
>>pleasurable. I
>>: don't think you can judge the whole series (5 hours on RTE) on
>>the
>>: heavily edited 1 hr version. :-)
>>: cindy
>>so people, where can I find this documentary (the 5 hour
>>version)? thanks
>>leeanne@bonair
>Not currently available in the US, I don't know about Britain &
>Ireland. Its a Beeb production I think.
>But again, the 5 hour documentary is no more accurate than the 1 hr
>Americanized version in terms of the scholarship--it just has more
>pictures and more performances. I stand by my original post in
>saying, sure its interesting to see all the musicians in the series,
>but it *still* doesn't make the claims that Irish music became
>Appalachian music, etc. etc. correct. This is an entertaining series,
>but not a particularly accurate series for learning about the music.
>Janet
I think the point that was trying to be made was that Appalachian
music was *changed* by the arrival of the Irish emmigrants, not that
Irish music "became" Appalachian music. I seem to recall an interview
with the series producer (a guy called Philip King) where he said he
was equaly interested in the influence of other music on Irish
traditional music.
When I was in Ireland mid last year, I asked about the video in a
record store and the guy behind the counter was expecting it to be
re-released within a few weeks (BBC were, at the time, negotiating
with Humingbird for the full rights to the video - so the
record-store-guy said).
There are some on-line music & video stores in the UK that might have
a copy.
Kieran Fitzpatrick.
NS Mc Dougal
Another interesting production came from the Disney channel several years
ago entitled "Irish Music in America". Even though it was only one hour,
it gave brief discussions by performer such as , Emmy Lou Harris, Elvis
Costello, The Everly Brothers, John Prine, etc. regarding Irish music and
how it has influenced our music today. Check it out. NSM
Jim Abbott
Jim Abbott
> While channel surfing on Saturday night (8/30/96) I just happened upon
> the most incredible documentary of Irish music. They explained the
> history, the instruments, how it migrated across the Atlantic to the
> distributed by Hummingbird Productions and it aired on the Encore
> cable tv channel. I tried to tape it but goofed and it didn't work.
> anywhere? It didn't "feel" recent (hairstyles, clothing) but I
> couldn't even tell what the name of it was, because they kept
> referring to "Ovation" but on the cable lineup it listed "Bring It
> Back Home."
> Hope someone can help.
> Jane Bergen
> ja...@airmail.net